“Dear editor, I am a big fan of Katy Perry and own a number of her MVs in my hard drive. Last week, my prince charming told me that he was recently interested in Katy Perry too and wondered if I could share my MV collection with him. Of course I said yes. Then he gave me his iPod shuffle. Jesus, who the hell would use a music player without a screen in 2014, but he is my prince charming! How could I say no and give back his iPod shuffle to those sparkling eyes? So I just took it and told him I would give back his iPod when I finished transferring. Almighty editor, emergency! Is there any possible way to play those MVs on an iPod shuffle? Or could I convert my MP4 video files to MP3? It would be best if there is a free MP4 to MP3 converter. I would appreciate your valuable help.”

Dear reader, I am sorry to inform you that there is nothing I can do to play a MV on an iPod shuffle since there is no screen at all. However, what I do know is that how to make those music videos playable on iPod shuffle. To achieve it, you need to convert your MP4 video files to MP3 files. In other words, you are in need of a video(MP4) to audio(MP3) converter. Here in this post, I am to share 3 ways to extract audio from MP4 video file and then save as MP3.

Way #1: Convert MP4 to MP3 with Leawo Video Converter

The first way to convert MP4 to MP3 that comes to my mind is making use of Leawo Video Converter, a professional video to audio converter program. It is one of the most popular video converters in the world, supporting more than 180 different formats including MP4, AVI, FLV, MKV, MP3 etc. What is more, it enables you to convert video to audio without any loss in quality, of course including MP4 to MP3 conversion.

Download and install Leawo Video Converter on your computer (Mac users should switch to Mac version of Leawo Video Converter), and then follow the guide below to convert MP4 to MP3.

Guide on how to convert MP4 to MP3 with Leawo Video Converter:

Step 1: Import source MP4 video files

Kick off Leawo Video Converter to enter the main program interface, and click “Add Video” button on the sub-menu to load your source MP4 video files.

Step 2: Set MP3 as output format

Click the drop-down box next to the “Add Photo” button. On the drop-down list, select “Change” option. Then on the popup Profile window, select “MP3″ from “Format” column as output format.

Note: If you need, you could click the “Edit” button on the drop-down profile setting box to adjust detailed audio parameters including audio codec, bit rate, channel and sample rate.

Step 3: Convert MP4 to MP3

Click the big green “Convert” button on the sub-menu bar next to the format setting drop-down box. Then, on the popup sidebar, set output directory. After setting output directory, click the “Convert” button right below. Leawo Video Converter would start to convert MP4 to MP3 immediately.

Video guide on how to use Leawo Video Converter:

Way #2: Extract MP3 from MP4 with VLC Media Player

More than a media player, VLC can play the part of a video/audio converter. You can use VLC to extract MP3 from MP4. Therefore VLC can be regarded as an MP4 to MP3 converter, more exactly, a free MP4 to MP3 converter. Check out the following steps to free convert MP4 to MP3 with VLC.

Step 1: Kick off VLC media player to enter the main interface, click “Media” button on the sub-memu, and then click “Convert/Save” button to call out “Open Media” window.

Step 3: A “Convert” window will pop up once the “Convert/Save” button is clicked. Select “Audio – MP3″ in the “Profile” drop-down box, and click “Browse” to set an output directory.

Step 4: You will be guided into “Save File” window, where you need to select an output folder and rename the output MP3 file. Once you’re done, click Save and you’ll be back to the previous screen.

Step 5: Click “Start” button to extract MP3 from MP4.

Way #3: Extract MP3 from MP4 with FFmpeg

The third solution for converting MP4 to MP3 is making use of FFmpeg. Compared to the first two solutions, this solution is less user-friendly. Download FFmpeg from the official website.

Extract the archive and then enter the resulting folder. Shift+Right-click the bin folder and select Open command window here from the context menu. Alternatively, you can enter the bin folder and type cmd in Explorer’s address bar and it will open a command prompt in that location. Now that you’re in the terminal all you have to do is type the following command: ffmpeg -i mp4path mp3path.

After typing, here’s how it should look in the terminal.

Click “Enter” on your keyboard to begin extracting process, and once it is done, you will find the resulting mp3 file at your specified location.

Above are three solutions for you to convert MP4 to MP3, or extract MP3 from MP4. You can choose the one that best suits your personal preference. Enjoy!